Top 5 Places to Eat, in Brisbane

This weeks Blogger in the Spotlight is my mate Joe, whom some of you will remember as the guy who recently relocated to Melbourne, Australia, for a very short time, before he had to relocate to Brisbane yet again because he got a better job offer. He wrote a brilliant post for us the last time entitled, 5 Things to help you Successfully Relocate to another Country. Now that he has settled into life in Brisbane, we felt it was a good time to ask for the obvious follow up post. Here is his latest write up for us on the Top 5 Great Areas for Food in Brisbane.. the gospel according to Joe.

Over the months, I find myself pleading with my friends to come and visit me in Brisbane, only to stutter when they ask “what is there to do in Brisbane?” In all honesty, Brisbane to me is just one of those cities with the homogeneous block of towers and condominiums, shopping malls, culture and history sprinkled around town. It pales in comparison with the more cultured Melbourne and the metropolitan Sydney but thankfully there is a growing and promising food scene. If not for the glimmer of hope, I don’t see myself hanging around any longer than I should. Talking about the food scene, I have thought long and hard and let’s say if you do decide to fly down to Brisbane, make sure you visit these 5 areas.

1.Eagle Street

Overseeing the river, the whole stretch is littered with casual dining like Grill’d burgers or Nagomi Japanese bento sets to fine dining, Aria opened by Australian celebrity chef; Matt Moran. It would do you no wrong to even walk along the river and enjoy the breeze. One of the restaurants up north of the river is E’cco Bistro.

Two hatted, the Australian equivalent to Michelin stars, the place is casual yet sleek and serves modern Australian cuisine. Our visit saw us trying their rabbit which was delicious and the passion fruit soufflé that perfumed the whole dining area. Certainly worth the AUD 80-90 per pax for a 3 course meal and more if you order a bottle of wine to share.

E’cco – 100 Boundary St, Brisbane, 4000 Tel: (07) 3831 8344

2.Rosalie

Rosalie is a little quaint suburb out at the Paddington area. One could visit this in the morning and enjoy a hearty breakfast at Salt or Flute, hop over to the Gourmet Market for a bit of shopping and if you wanted to cook steak, the butcher in the area stocks up some really good quality meat. If you can wait till 12, a must try is the Gelato from Gelateria Cremona. If you are into sweets, Welsh Lady serves a very rich Death by Chocolate that one slice is abundant for two or three to share.

Want to visit the area at night? There are plenty of restaurants along the area to try ranging from Thai to Japanese all to good old burgers.

3.Pubs

Pub grub seems to be the trend here with plenty of them around serving huge steaks and plenty of beer. One I tried recently was at the Caxton Hotel which served a lip smacking 500gm ribeye on the bone.

Caxton Hotel – 38 Caxton St, Brisbane, 4000 Tel: (07) 3369 5544

4.Sunnybank
Not exactly a top joint but essentially if you want to live life like a local, particularly an Asian, may I interest you to a meal of Guizhou cuisine?
Yummy Paradise – Shop 45, 663 Beenleigh road Centro Pinelands, Sunnybank Hills, 4109 Tel: (07) 3344 5572

5.Coffee joints

Not the best state for Coffee compared to Melbourne and Sydney but it looks like Driftwood and Dandelion has saved the day with their unique decor and staff uniform and most importantly their brilliant coffee. With beans being rotated around and half a dozen ways of drinking coffee, you must come by if you are in Brisbane.

“Joe” who is constantly craving is a cool dude who’s passions in life are food, food photography.. er, is there much more to life!? Anyway, to know more about this fun loving guy, just check out his space/blog, where there are lots of delicious photos and writings on food floating around. Feel free to email him at chen.z.jun(at)gmail (dot)com